Chelsea close to Essien deal

Chelsea were tonight closing in on the £25m signing of Lyon midfielder Michael Essien.

Blues chief executive Peter Kenyon is understood to be in France to finalise the deal, which Jose Mourinho sees as the last piece of squad strengthening necessary before the start of the new season.

The club dismissed speculation linking them with AC Milan’s Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, and Kenyon was adamant long-term success required a stable core of quality players, rather than rotating big-name stars in and out of the club from one year to the next.

The Blues chief told Chelsea TV: “I know continuity is important and one of the big benefits at Manchester United was that they had a core group which had been part of that success for most of the time.

“One of the most exciting things for me is not just that we’ve won it, but that we’ve won it with a squad of players I can see being with us for many years to come.

“Consciously we’ve said we would like it to be English-based and we want them to be young, because if you’re talking about dominating for the next five to 10 years you can’t dominate and then change eight players every season.

“We’ve seen how difficult it is even for world-class players coming in and needing time to adjust but once you’ve got them you need to know that you can maintain it.

“To win you have to have your best team and your best squad. What comes with that is less change and less rotation. If you look at the teams that have won it, it has been done with a large element of consistency.

“United have been the most consistent season on season and that’s a big, big factor.”

Kenyon hailed the impact of a proven winner like Mourinho in leading the side to the title in his first season in charge.

“It’s one thing talking about winning, it’s another thing to have done it and that’s why bringing in Jose was so critical,”Kenyon added.

“I think we’re absolutely perfectly placed to start dominating this sport in the way that we want to.”